Subway
by Afterword
Summary: SasuSaku & It's a round trip and an unexpected adventure. Who knew that 90 minutes could change a life so much?
1. Monday

Disclaimer: yeah not mine.

_Chapter One. _

**----Monday.**

_"Find adventure in unexpected places"_

BEGIN.

It all started on a subway.

And no, it wasn't one of those weird hair commercials that were always in the front of Seventeen magazine, the one where some hair product leads to flirting with a conveniently hot guy, etc.

Anyways, her hair was already singular enough without using industrial strength hairspray/gel/whatever else on it.

….the subway was where she first met Uzumaki Naruto. At the time she had no idea how much he was going to change her life.

* * *

Haruno Sakura had long harbored an unhealthy addiction for Starbucks. And the chocolate filled croissants from the French bakery down the street. (Along with other things like sleeping in late and Heath Ledger. May he rest in peace.) 

This was why she was fuming mad when some despicable jerk of a blondie stole both of those precious items from her grasp...and downed them both speedily.

She punched him.

Five minutes later, the blonde was fine and Sakura was practically in tears.

"It's fine, really."

"No, it's not! I'm going to the hospital, they can patch you up. I'm so sorry!"

"Hehe, I don't want to refuse a pretty lady, but today's my first day on the job. Shouldn't be late."

"Oh…where?"

"Doujutsu? It's like a wannabe Charles Schwab."

"Isn't that owned by…"

"Hyuuga Neji, yeah."

"Does he even need any more money?"

"I guess you can never have enough…"

"…."

"…."

"So…are you fresh out of college?"

"Nah, I've been on the job market for about a year and half…last job was a total fluke. I don't even know how I got hired with that kind of record…"

"What kind of record?" Sakura _knew_ that curiosity killed the cat, but prying was in her nature. Or rather, Ino's nature. Osmosis.

"Eheh. I worked for Hourglass Corporation for about 2 months. Me and this other guy got really unhappy with our boss and kind of blew up at him. The other guy, Gaara, was kind of unstable. Later I found out that our boss was his dad…I didn't get a good rec letter, obviously."

"Ohh…and Doujutsu just hired you?"

"Yeah, it was really weird. I had this interview with some cold bastard who thought he was all awesome and badass. He was like, you talk way too much. You're hired. And then he walked away, all fancy-like."

"And this job is…"

"I'm starting as the junior PR person today."

"Hm. Exciting."

There was a lull in the conversation, as Sakura tapped her fingers on her knee and the blonde looked deep in thought, his eyebrows brought together with deep furrows.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, by the way. I work at the Konoha Hospital. And you owe me a Starbucks and a chocolate croissant from _Madame Dupont's Patisserie_ on seventh street."

"Are you asking me out…indirectly? I'm taken." He winked roguishly.

Sakura glared.

"As if."

"Haha. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Do you come on this route regularly?"

"Everyday…"

"Maybe we'll see eachother then…if I don't get fired today."

"Why're you so nervous? Public Relations isn't like rocket science."

He squirmed.

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

A head shake.

"Basically you try to make people like your company. Anyways, you said that you're the junior PR guy, so someone will be there to guide you around…maybe.It's not that hard. My best friend works as a receptionist at a retirement home, you know, work-study, and basically you let the press know about the good things that your employer has done, deny the bad things, and sidestep the really sensitive issues. Like your boss' relationship status, political opinion, you know?"

"Oh my god. That sounds awful. And fake."

"That's kind of the point."

A buzzing noise.

"Oh, my phone." Sakura flipped open her silver, cutesy-looking cell phone.

**1 New Text Message From: Ino**

_Forehead! You'll never guess what happened this weekend!_

She crinkled her forehead. Maybe Chouji, their childhood friend and favorite foodie, had gotten on a diet? Or maybe she found out that her favorite professor, Asuma, had quit smoking?

On second thought, neither of those were even remotely possible.

**Reply To: Ino**

_Iunno, what?_

The pink-haired girl stashed her phone back into her bag, then turned back to the blonde, who now had earphones in and was eating an orange. When he noticed that she had finished texting, he quickly flicked one of the white earbuds out of his ear.

"What's up?" Sakura asked.

"I'll be getting off soon, probably."

"Where?"

"I think Doujutsu is on Mad Drive, so I guess the closest stop is Sound. I don't why they chose such a shady place to conduct their business. "

"Well, maybe they didn't have the money or something. Or maybe they have illegal connections? Anyways, I'm glad I work on a nice, open, busy street. In a hospital, in case I lapse into clumsiness." Sakura smiled. "I'm getting off at Konoha, obviously."

The blonde got up from his seat and made his way closer to the double doors.

"When do you get off work?"

"Six usually."

"Oh good, I'll bring you Hinata…"

He stepped through the doors onto cement, turned around and flashed a grin, and then walked energetically towards the stairs – of the wrong exit.

She groaned. Boys.

Not her problem though. She had a stop to catch. The pink haired girl also rose from the blue plastic seats, looked around for anything that she left, zipped up her gray jacket, and stepped toward the doors.

She grinned. That was pretty short for the normally excruciating 45-minute subway ride. (Usually time for her to ponder her severe lack of a life).

"We are now approaching Konoha Station. Please exit on the left side," the ever-familiar mechanical voice droned.

Sakura watched as some tourists hurried to correct their error (They would have stepped out over tracks. Painful death.) Konoha was a popular stop, and she squeezed through the bottleneck and headed towards the hospital.

* * *

END. Monday, January 28th, subway ride AM.

**.start**. 7:13 AM from Bell Road.

**.end**. 7:58 AM at Konoha Station.

**.accomplished**. made a new friend.

* * *

**.snapshots**. 

_A blonde behind a long desk, grinning from ear to ear, hugging a pink haired girl. _

_A dark haired man tapping his foot impatiently. _

_A blonde sprinting, stopping in front of a building to adjust a badly matched suit. _

_A timid looking girl at Starbucks, chugging down coffee behind the counter and reading __The Science of Art_

_A roseate female carrying a clipboard and stepping into a room._

* * *

BEGIN. 

She was tired when she next boarded the 6:12 subway, barely noticing the new (illegible) graffiti addition on the side of the car. Today had been a rather eventful day. A day of surprises. One of which was standing next to her.

"How was your first day, Ino?"

The blonde pouted. "There were no hot injured men in need of CPR."

"Get over yourself. You're a receptionist, not medical personnel. Me though…" The girl smirked sneakily.

"Psh. Anyways, it was alright. Kinda boring, but I guess it pays better than the nursing home. Old people can't afford much," the blonde said tactlessly.

"God, I can't believe they hired you. Injured people need nice sensitive people, not blockheads like you."

"Say another word and I'll bring in the picture. You know, the one—"

"No need to bring it up. My lips are sealed."

Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. On-and-off best friends for about 10 years. On the surface, they were bitter rivals for love, prestige, and power. On the inside, each remembered the years past of high school parties, secrets, crushes, sleepovers, and childhood friends.

Now Sakura was an intern at Konoha Hospital at 27, while Ino, just a little younger, was finishing her master's degree in psychology.

Unfortunately, her parents were by no means rich, so she was forced to slow down her education by doing work-study. Her current job was working as a receptionist at the hospital that Sakura interned at. (The job consisted of smiling, taking phone calls, entering things into Microsoft Excel, signing people in and out, and a lot of free time. $11 an hour didn't exactly hire a genius. Even though Ino liked to claim she was one.)

The two were doing conversation on autopilot, Ino painting her nails with base coat and Sakura examining some paperwork from the hospital.

A couple seconds later, Uzumaki Naruto, towing two lifeless-looking bodies, appeared.

"Hinata, this was the girl I told you about! We met this morning on the subway!"

"Ah…Hi, Naruto-san. Care to introduce me?" Sakura had been broken off from her semi-conscious mode by his loud exclamation.

"So…um. Hinata, this is Haruno Sakura, she works at the hospital! Sakura, this is my girlfriend Hyuuga Hinata." She looked familiar.

"Hyuuga…the same as—" Naruto cut her off, with a warning glance that said _I'll tell you later._

"And this is my new boss, Uchiha Sasuke."

The seemingly lifeless (but very handsome) body that had up until that moment been resting nonchalantly against a pole, raised a hand condescendingly.

"Hn."

"He's a real jerk, as you can tell. Totally reprimanded me for arriving 5 minutes late for work. All because he told me the wrong address."

"Watch it. I control your salary. What there is left of it after the money I already docked."

"You guys, this is my best friend, Yamanaka Ino. Ino, Uzumaki Naruto-san. Naruto-san just started today at Doujutsu, you know, the new stock market place?"

"Hey," the psych major was disinterestedly listening to the conversation, spending most of her brainpower on trying to do those tricky right hand nails. Nail polish remover was not exactly free or provided on subways.

Speaking of free…(okay, not so free. But what was a couple dollars for the amazingness?) Hinata looked much too familiar. And now she knew why.

"Hinata-san, do you work at Starbucks?"

"Y-Yes. I work the six to twelve shift."

"The Bell Road one?"

"Yes, it—it is the closest to my apartment."

Sakura was confused to why a girl with rich parents and a ridiculously famous brother needed to confine herself to an apartment.

"Aah. No wonder why you seemed familiar. I'm the double latte every morning."

"O-Oh, yes. Kiba-kun tells me a-about you. You kn-know, there is a drive through if you are always l-late."

"Haha, like I have a car. Obviously, since I'm taking the subway…wait. Uchiha-san, you should be pretty rich if you're a manager at Doujutsu, right? Why aren't you taking a car?"

"….in the shop."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered, "Sasuke is not just a manager. He's co-CEO along with Hyuuga Neji."

"EHHH? This guy?" Sakura attempted to keep her voice down, but failed miserably.

"It's not like we can't hear you guys so just come out and say it." The dark haired man said expressionlessly.

"If you're a CEO, how come you aren't in the tabloids all the time like Neji?"

Sakura noticed that Hinata flinched.

"I prefer not to go out partying all night with mindless fangirls."

"Yet you allow yourself to be exposed to the subway?"

"Not my choice. Plus, the dumbass over there is paying."

"Are you kidding? You. Pay. Him. Plus you probably are already rich!"

"You can never have enough." He turned his head away and stared at the ceiling, signifying the end of their conversation.

Ino chose this time to join the conversation, fanning her fingertips with her best friend's medical papers.

"You guys don't happen to work with Shikamaru, do you?"

"Deer? Yeah, I don't think so," Naruto quipped.

"No, really. Nara Shikamaru?"

"You mean the genius?"

"I personally prefer the lazy jerkface. But yeah, I guess."

"He works on the 3rd floor, but everyone knows about him, apparently. Only been there one day, but seems like everything me and Tenten can't deal with we send up to him."

Sakura asked, "Is Tenten the senior PR?"

"Yeah. She's cool. Weird fetish for pointy things though. Like the picture frames on her desk could induce serious pain."

"Ouch."

"And apparently, she and the head honcho himself have something going on."

"_Uchiha_-san? Does that guy even have the capacity for emotions?"

"Hn."

"Haha, good one, Sakura-chan. No, I'm talking about Hyuuga Neji-_sama_." Naruto twisted the suffix to make it sound demeaning.

Ino picked at her nails. "How does she stand him? I mean, everyone knows that he's a total player."

"You'd be surprised, actually." Uchiha Sasuke spoke up.

"I, as w-well, d-don't think that Neji-nii-san would ever h-hurt Tenten-san."

"EH? Hinata-chan, you never told me you knew my coworker!"

"Y-You never asked."

"Men are so insensitive."

"So true."

"….."

"….."

"So…...Where do you guys live?" Sakura asked bravely.

"I-I live on C-Circle Road…"

"Oh, that's so close! How did you get all the way over here, if you work at Starbucks?"

"I-I take an a-afternoon art class…"

"I see."

"I live on Ichiraku Street, above the Ichiraku Ramen Shop!"

"Um. Wow."

"Yeah, isn't it the greatest?"

"Sure."

"Hn."

"Ano, N-Naruto-kun, it's our stop."

"Rammmeeenn time!" With those parting words of wisdom, they left.

"I wouldn't have hired him if I knew about that obsession…" the CEO said darkly.

Sakura giggled. "It's my stop next. See you soon, Ino. Uchiha-san, I hope your car gets fixed."

She stepped out the doors.

* * *

END, Monday, January 28th, PM.

**.start**. 6:13 PM

**.end**. 6:58 PM

**.accomplished**.

met a (rich!) guy.

met a (coffeee!) girl.


	2. Tuesday

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Please review. It motivates me to write more.

* * *

**---Tuesday**

_"Stronger on the inside than the outside"_

There was something about the grim, gray steps of the underground station, utterly plastered with gum (Sakura could see Extra, Eclipse, Bubbleicious, and some random conglomeration near the garbage can…gross.) and as filthy as anything that anyone could imagine.

People nowadays weren't exactly concerned with cleaning up other people's trash. Even the high school students looking for valiant community service work to put on their college transcripts didn't dare brave the begging hobos, the drug dealers, and yes, the commuters themselves.

Some of the commuters were really quite scary. Even though most of them worked for legitimate companies, the stereotypes that surrounded the subway made them completely paranoid. Even if you jostled one of the stuffy-looking businessmen (if they could afford Armani, couldn't they afford a Prius? Or even a SmartCar, for heaven's sake!), they would automatically pat their pockets. Many toted around laptop bags or even suitcases, and had the equivalent of season passes for the subway.

Yes, the commuters were the scariest of the lot. Haruno Sakura was pretty damn scary as well. (As Naruto found out yesterday.) Especially when she had woken up too late to get her morning coffee fix, and instead had to settle for the cheap, crappy stuff they sold right by the ticket booth. She should really look into getting a coffeemaker. And one of those season passes.

She could see her future already; a suit-woman with shoulder pads (yuck) and loafers (double yuck), riding the subway every morning. She groaned and leaned her head on the blue pole in front of her.

She obviously was not prepared for the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed hyperness of her newest friend.

"Morning, Sakuraaaa-chann!"

"Haaa? Oh, hi, Naruto-san."

"Don't you look energetic this morning."

"I didn't have the chance to stop by your girlfriend's store and pick up coffee…my alarm clock ran out of batteries. Stopped at like 4:32. I'm lucky I even managed to get my hair brushed before heading out the door."

"You're way too obsessed with coffee, you know? Even though Hinata-chan has an employee discount, I only drink coffee after an all-nighter. I think coffee eventually loses its buzz if you drink it too much. "

Avoiding the last comment, the pink-haired girl (with large undereye circles) asked, "You're not a student anymore, why are you pulling allnighters? You should get at least 6 hours of sleep a day."

"Exactly! I haven't gone without sleeping 8 hours a night for about 2 years now! My doc says that I'm ridiculously healthy for the amount of ramen that I eat."

"Probably because your brain is so small that it doesn't need much energy to upkeep," a mildly familiar voice stated from behind them.

"Uchiha-san?"

"Sasuke?"

"Shut up, idiot."

"Uchiha-san, why are you here?"

"Am I obligated to tell you, _Haruno-san_?"

"Sasuke, you bastard, don't make fun of Sakura-chan!"

"I'm merely being honest and asking a question, right, Haruno-san?"

"Ah—Yes."

Sakura, feeling unwelcome in so close a vicinity to the dark haired man, turned away and stalked back to her side of the subway, getting out her silver 2nd-generation nano from her one nice purse, a Louis Vuitton that had cost her a week's earnings. Her philosophy in life was that every girl should have one really nice bag, pair of shoes, going-out top, dress, and pair of straight-leg jeans. Other than that, she was perfectly content with shopping at the mall. Just window shopping. Of course.

Her iPod, put up to a pretty high level because of the din of the subway as well as the two young men having a rather low-intelligence verbal sparring match, blasted music into her ears. She expertly scrolled with the clicker-wheel, beginning to play the kind of-addictive Brick. (She wasn't so good though, and the fat man next to her kept bumping her. Damn the city for not installing more seats.)

While she mindlessly played the game, she wondered why the Uchiha really was there. Where did he live anyways? As the CEO of a major company, he probably had a decked-out bachelor pad in the Heights. Pfft, bastard. She couldn't afford a broom closet there.

Sakura contemplated her job and the strenuous surgery that she was sure to have before her. Although she was merely an intern, she seemed to have a natural aptitude for many branches of medicine. The head doctor of the hospital, a woman named sunade who specialized in plastic surgery but was actually a brilliant _everything_, trusted Sakura to no end.

Of course, this lead to a lot of stress.

The first time that one of her patients had died, she had cried for hours. This was about a year ago, and the pink-haired medic still vividly remembered her patient's wan face and night-black hair. And her last words, "Tell my son I love him."

She was woken from her reverie when her iPod shuffled onto an ultra-heavy metal song, one that she usually saved for her alarm clock. (She was a deep sleeper, and her alarm clocks broke easily because she couldn't afford a really nice one. Sometimes she used her cell phone.)

The girl noticed that the Uchiha had moved to sit next to her, his thinness contrasting with the heavyweight sitting on her other side. She assumed that he had run away from the hyperness of their mutual 'friend', who was now chatting up a youngish-looking adult wearing a plaid shirt reminiscent of lumberjacks. Sakura caught the blonde's eye, and he gave her a huge grin, shouting,"Entertain the bastard for a while, Sakura-chan."

It didn't look like the man really needed entertaining; he had pulled out a state of the art MacBook Air that she wouldn't have even dared bring near the subway. (Pickpockets, after all. And MacBook Airs were tiny.)

"There's no wireless, you know."

"I would never have guessed." A tinge of sarcasm made its way into Sasuke's otherwise flat words. "I'm typing a report, but this piece of crap doesn't even have a floppy disk port."

"I'll take the piece of crap if you don't want it, Sasuke-san. I'm still using the old iBook that my parents bought me before college."

"Hn. I don't think so."

"Why do you need to type a report? I would think that you would have secretaries."

"I don't trust them. The only people that work under me are the idiot over there and Tenten. I knew her in high school, and she is competent enough."

"Ah, ever the self-sufficient type."

"CEOs need to be self-sufficient. There is no one we can look to if we have problems," the CEO said stiffly, still typing expertly without looking at the keys.

"And yet, you don't seem to like flaunting your position or wealth very much." Sakura noted his simple apparel, a blue button up shirt and black slacks. "No fancy designer suit, huh?" Even Naruto had a tie on.

"…" He merely continued typing, deeming the conversation over.

Naruto noticed the end of their conversation, and called Sakura over to him and his new friend (prospective client?)

"Sakura-chan, this is Hatake Kakashi! I know he looks old because of the hair, but he's only 35!"

"Actually, I never thought he was old. When you have pink hair, you learn not to judge people by their hair color," She smiled at the man.

"Hello Hatake-san, I'm Haruno Sakura. I work at the hospital."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, I'm an intern. Hopefully I'll become a resident soon though."

"That's nice."

Sakura noted the book that he then pulled out of his pocket: _Icha Icha Paradise_.

"You, you…PERVERT! KYAA!"

The occupants of the subway all turned toward her, even the men reading the stock market readings. Even Uchiha Sasuke looked slightly amused, looking up over the top of his computer.

Sakura blushed, but she felt that she was perfectly justified in her accusation; after all, this guy was bringing porn onto the subway. A lot of minors came on the subway! She could probably have him arrested.

People could practically see the steam coming out of her ears, and Naruto looked slightly scared.

The silver-haired man smiled slightly and said, "Aah."

Sakura fumed. Naruto sighed.

"Sakura-chan, he's the editor of the Icha Icha series."

She whispered back loudly, "Couldn't he edit something more legitimate? Seriously. I'm going to have serious psychological trauma."

Hatake's eyes curved. "Don't worry, Sakura-san. I'm not a pedophile."

"I hadn't even considered that before you brought it up, thanks a lot."

"Anyways, Sakura-chan isn't a minor."

The editor coughed. "I hadn't considered that, Naruto-san."

"Eheheh…anyways. Why are you in town?"

"I'm doing promotion for the next book. Jiraiya-sama is almost done writing it, and data has said that promotion can increase sales by as much as 50 percent. Ah, this is my stop." Kakashi put the book back into his pocket and pulled out a Palm Pilot, muttering.

"See you later, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san. Buy the book!"

"Ew. Naruto-san, you should be careful. That guy could have been a Michael Jackson!"

"I'm the wrong age group, Sakura-chan."

"True."

"So. Are you psyched for work today?"

"To tell you the truth, there isn't that much work involved. Tenten has a huge dartboard on the wall and she uses real throwing knives as darts."

"Wow. Have you tried yet?"

"Not yet, but she said she would teach me today!"

Sakura laughed and dug in her bag. "Here's the hospital's card if you accidentally puncture your hand or something."

Naruto took it from her, holding it seriously. "Maybe I should put it into speed dial."

"911 would probably work too."

"Ahh, Sakura-chan, I'm no criminal!"

Uchiha Sasuke stashed his laptop and walked over to the duo.

"Dobe, I won't be at work until 10, alright?"

"I'm not stupid! And…why?"

"None of your business. It's your stop."

Sakura assumed that he was going to pick up his car from the shop, and followed Naruto with her eyes as he walked off the bus, waving to her.

The two sat awkwardly for 5 more minutes until Sakura stood up and walked to the double doors. She was surprised to see that Sasuke had followed her, because there was no auto shop in the near vicinity. The streets around Konoha were instead crammed with boutiques, restaurants, and miscellaneous shops and museums.

She was even more surprised when he too walked to the hospital.

* * *

.snapshots. 

_A dark haired man walking, carrying a large manila envelope. _

_A blonde throwing highly sharpened metal knives. _

_A blue-haired girl on Circle Road with an easel propped near the window._

_A pink haired girl going over old medical records. _

* * *

It was only Sakura, Ino, and Naruto on the subway that evening.

Apparently, Hinata only had art class on Mondays and Thursdays, while Sasuke had to go to a business dinner.

Sakura thought it was prime time to solve a mystery that had been bugging her since yesterday.

Ino happily satiated watching Grey's Anatomy on her brand new iPod Touch, Sakura scooted closer to Naruto.

"So. Why does Hinata-san flinch whenever I mention Hyuuga Neji?"

His face fell. "I was hoping you wouldn't remember. It's a long story, and not one that I really like to tell."

"We've got a while. Tell."

"Okay. I met Hinata my first year of college. So I guess 8 years ago. I'd gotten in on a scholarship, since I was an orphan. Even though I got horrible grades, I still managed to get into University of Konoha, which was surprising. I went to Leaf for High School, but I was never in advanced classes like you probably were.

Hinata, though, was the perfect student in high school. Her family really pushed her to do all of these things, and she went to an elite private school, where the kids were encouraged not to talk and just do their work quietly and efficiently.

If you haven't noticed, Hinata-chan is really shy. If you can believe it, I would say that she was even more shy when I first met her. Hyuuga Neji would constantly be following her around. He's her cousin, and he has a very dominant personality. He completely smothered her. And even though he protected her, he never really seemed to care for her like a normal family member would.

I didn't really know her until sophomore year. We were both in the same art class; it was a requirement. I absolutely sucked at art, I barely passed drawing stick figures and parallel lines that intersected. Hinata was brilliant, and you could tell that she really loved it. The teacher told her that she should definitely consider art as a major. When we declared in junior year, everyone expected her to be an art major, with maybe a Lit minor.

Everyone was shocked when she declared and Economics major with a Business minor. Hinata just isn't that sort of person. You have to be aggressive and strong-willed to do that. And she wasn't. She was taking so many classes that she was starting to pass out in the middle of them. She also didn't have any time for art classes. She really hated it, she really really did. Once I overheard her dorm advisor, Kurenai, talking to mine, about this girl on her floor that had a crazy family member pushing her to do things that she didn't want to do.

Hinata toughed it out until the end of junior year. She had these permanent circles under her eyes and her hair was long because she didn't have time to go out and cut it. Then her cousin graduated, so she didn't have a monitor right there with her. I'm not going to say that she went crazy, but she was definitely a lot happier. She changed her major. She kept the business minor, trying to please her parents, but she changed her major to art.

University of Konoha is really expensive, but her parents immediately cut her off when she changed her major. They had this entire Hyuuga mentality about art being a wishy-washy subject that wouldn't get Hinata anywhere in life. They'd been paying for everything before then, but now she had to pay this buttload of money a year. You couldn't have known how bad I felt, me with my B- average getting a full ride. Hinata started working at a Starbucks near campus to help cover the money. Her childhood friends, Shino and Kiba, also pitched in with some money. She might have gotten a couple merit scholarships, I don't know.

Her family disowned her and moved all of their attentions to Hanabi, her little sister, and Neji, who's a year older than us. He went on to graduate school in America and got a PhD before coming back here to start Doujutsu. He picked up some bad habits, but the Hyuuga clan is up for anything as long as it involves fame and money.

We graduated together…But at this point we weren't going out. Hinata moved into her house on Circle Road, and I moved into my place above Ichiraku. The Ichiraku people are like my family. I worked at my job at Hourglass for a while, but Hinata wanted to go to graduate school. She was a really good artist, and she wanted to be amazing. She got scholarships to go to grad school at U of K, but she still needs to work. She only has very few classes, so at the rate that she's going at right now, she'll take twice as long as average to get her master's degree.

She doesn't talk to her family; the only people she really has are her friends. Even though she was going to inherit the Hyuuga hotel business, they don't bother calling. Her little sister is going to get the hotels, and Neji is sponsored by the Hyuuga family with Doujutsu. Even though we lost touch for a while, one day I saw her at Starbucks and we really hit it off. She's unbelievable, doesn't blame Neji for anything. She'll still defend him if I say anything bad about him, I guess she's grateful.

Neji obviously wasn't happy when he found out that Sasuke had hired me, his cousin's boyfriend. He never liked me, thought I was a bad influence. I didn't get good grades, got kicked out my job, eat ramen instead of caviar. But Hinata-chan has stood by me. I'm going to use this job to help pay her way through school. Her family still hasn't contributed anything."

Sakura was speechless was Naruto finished his story.

"What is Hyuuga-san's phone number?"

As she added it to her cellphone's contact list, Sakura pondered over the slight girl's story. What a dark history.

She was glad that Naruto added a bright spot to Hinata's life.

END

* * *

**A/N:** Wow this story must seem very NaruHina centric at this point, but I need to establish backstory for each of the characters. Sasuke will probably be last, actually.

Reviews are loved and welcomed.

And I'm going to stop with the "start", "end" ,"accomplished" it's too time wasting.


	3. Wednesday

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

**---Wednesday**

_"Make the Connection and defend the connector."_

Wednesdays were always the worst. Smack dab in the middle of the week; you were already tired out from Monday and Tuesday but Saturday still seemed infinitely far away.

Most people got lazier as the week went by, so the subway became more and more popular until there was a huge crash on Saturday. Once, for a Statistics class, Sakura had graphed the number of people taking the subway with Microsoft Excel. The graph peaked at Wednesday.

Most of the time, the subway was midway-full. The good seats were taken and a fair share of the bad ones too, but the people weren't packed like sardines. Usually, Sakura was able to find a pretty good seat…not so today. She was delegated to standing up, leaning against a pole, her hands clasped around it. Her eyes were closed, her face makeup-less, and she didn't notice the man sitting in the seat closest to her.

He looked up, and his eyes narrowed.

"Haruno-san?"

"Oh, Uchiha-san. I didn't notice you there. You can call me Sakura, none of us are stuffy, right?"

"Same to you."

"Ah. Sasuke-san, why are you here? Didn't you pick up your car yesterday?"

"I need to talk to you, and I can't take time off of work. And the car is also too flashy."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yesterday, I went to the hospital, as you may have noticed."

"Yes. Ino told me that you talked to the other receptionist?"

"Yes. Do you know why?"

"No, I have no idea. Are you ill?"

"No. And if you have no idea, perhaps it is best not to get you involved. All I need is information, after all."

"What sort of information? Did you ask the receptionist?"

"They both were highly incompetent, and I did not wish to share very much information with them."

"What is your question about?" Sakura said slowly, not necessarily wanting to get involved in anything that would further stress her out.

"My mother. She was in the hospital about 14 months ago."

"I started at the hospital two years ago. You believe that she was my patient?"

"Yes."

"If you need information, why don't we arrange a time to meet so we can talk?"

"My house, or a café, or whatever you would like is alright."

"Where do you live?"

"Ah. I live on Fire Street, do you know where that is?"

Sakura was taken aback. For a CEO to live in merely a condominium was unheard of. Fire Street was in a nice neighborhood, but definitely nothing like the Heights. Sakura knew that Sasuke didn't like to flaunt, but he was becoming too much of a foil for Hyuuga Neji…She was curious now.

"Yes, of course. Unfortunately, I have almost no time on weekdays, so the closest day I'll be free is Saturday…"

"Ah, that's fine. Here is my address and phone number, in case you have an earlier date or something." He handed her a small slip of paper, and then took out a mildly-expensive looking cell phone with something engraved on the back, where the battery pack would be. He looked at her expectantly.

"Oh, my phone number. (777) 321-3687. Um…when are we going to meet at Saturday?"

"Is 2 in the afternoon alright? I believe that I am meeting with the Hyuuga family in the morning."

"Yes, that's fine. I also have a prior arrangement in the morning."

"Hn. Which is?"

"I am taking Ino and Hinata-san out for brunch. Just some girl bonding. For me and Ino, it's just been the two of us for a long time, so it's nice to have a new face to talk to."

"Have you considered taking Tenten with you?"

"Hyuuga Neji's girlfriend?"

"Aah. He's always complaining about her lack of female company."

"Um, yes, that sounds alright. If you could pass along the message? Tell her that we are meeting at Konoha café on the corner of Konoha Street. It's only a stop away from Doujutsu on the subway."

"Hn."

"So…how is Naruto working out as junior PR?"

"As if, he's not doing any public relations! I know they throw darts. The only reason I hired those two is because they needed jobs and they're comic relief. Anyways, Hyuuga probably embezzles so much that he doesn't care if he needs to pay two more employees."

Sakura was struck by the sincerity of the statement. Sasuke knew that he was hiring those two for no reason? Maybe he wasn't emotionless after all...

"The real work gets done on the third floor. Hyuuga has no control over what happens in the company and he knows it. The real masterminds behind the company are me and Nara Shikamaru."

"Shikamaru-san? Ino's other best friend?"

"Due to that statement, my respect for him just fell down a few notches." His eyebrows furrowed, but the left side of his mouth also quirked a little bit. "Perhaps he is not as brilliant as he seems if he is friends with that incompetent blonde."

"She's my best friend, you know? And though she may be incompetent and blonde, she does care about the two of us."

"Hn. How did they get to be friends? College?"

"No, Ino is still in college, she's had to prolong her stay because she does work-study. Their parents, along with the Akimichis, are best friends. They grew up together, and Shikamaru's birthday is one day before Ino's."

"Akimichis?"

"They're the famous restaurant owners? A lot of their extended family has won Iron Chef?"

"I don't watch television very much."

"Their food is delicious, you should really tell your company to go to one of their restaurants for a business dinner."

"The point of business dinners is not food, it is alliances."

"Good food is an added benefit. Anyways, the Akimichi food is super healthy and good for you. Even though they are a little rotund themselves, they make sure to have exactly the right serving sizes and everything. Unfortunately, the food is also super expensive, so I only get to go when Chouji treats us."

"I am assuming that Chouji is an Akimichi and us refers to you, Yamanaka, and Nara."

"Exactly."

"How much…do you know about Nara?"

"Not too much, you?"

"He has the reputation for being quite mysterious. He's a genius, but doesn't seem smart, isn't motivated, doesn't date, has no goals in life, and likes saying 'Troublesome.' He doesn't answer any of our questions, but produces top notch work in ridiculously short amounts of time."

"I'd forgotten about that phrase of his. I think he got it from his father…In fact, that was Ino's nickname for him."

"I'll take note of that."

"And if you need information about Shikamaru, you could always ask Ino. I'm sure she'd be happy to hear from a CEO like you. She tends to be a little bit materialistic."

"I'm not surprised. With hair that peroxide-tinged, I'm surprised she has any braincells left."

"It's natural, actually." Sakura sounded defensive, obviously being used to hair comments.

"That's what she tells you."

"You can ask Shikamaru."

"Those two---"

"No, they aren't together. And they probably never will be together again. Ever."

"…A lot of emphasis there."

"It was awful when they were together. It was like 3 years ago, and they were together for a month. Shikamaru didn't want to take her out. His idea of a date was watching the clouds together, but Ino likes to be taken out to clubs and restaurants and the like. He broke up with her, actually, said that it was better when they were friends.

They only dated for a month, but they didn't speak for a year…I think it was Chouji that made them friends again. They still tread carefully around each other, so be careful when you interrogate Ino.

Shikamaru probably hasn't dated anyone after Ino, but she's gone through guy after guy. I'm not surprised that Shikamaru desisted from going out because of that bad precedent.

Some people might say that the chemistry is there and that they'll end up together eventually...but they didn't see them." Sakura shuddered. "I'm just glad they're friends again. Don't ruin that for them."

"I'll try. I just need some basic information. We tried to get it out of him when we hired him, but he refused. And he was too brilliant to let go."

"I never would have thought that I would hear you compliment someone."

"Your hair looks nice today."

"Whaa?"

"Another example of my polite charms."

"Lovely. And thank you, I used conditioner today." (Usually she didn't have time to just stand around in the shower for 3 to 5 minutes while she could be getting Starbucks. She should look into getting leave in conditioner.)

"_I_ use conditioner everyday."

"And how early do _you_ like to wake up?"

"I shower at night."

"Weird. Kinda smart though."

"You need to be 'kinda smart' to be a CEO."

"Don't mock my intelligence, I graduated as valedictorian in high school _and_ college."

"And how much did _you_ study?" Sasuke smirked, mimicking Sakura's earlier comment. Sakura blushed.

"You need to study to be a doctor, retard."

"Oh really?"

"Umhm. Or else you didn't meet my medical school exam. Or Professor Sarutobi."

"Sarutobi? Sarutobi Asuma?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Sarutobi-san was old."

"Interesting."

Finding little else to talk about, the two both turned away, Sakura pivoting around the pole with her tote bag on her shoulder, weighing it down with numerous medical papers and some textbooks. Sasuke stared down at his feet, then said,

"Have you really only known Naruto for 2 days?"

"Ah, yes. You?"

"Hn."

"Maybe you guys should get to know each other better. I get along alright with both of you, so you have something in common, right?"

"Aah. Sure…." He sounded completely unconvinced.

"I mean, you shouldn't just judge him. He's a good guy, stuck by his girlfriend, knows what's right. At least that's what it seems like to me…Just give him a chance."

"Hn."

He left and Sakura took his seat. Some polite charm, not offering her his seat in the first place.

* * *

_.snapshots._

_A man and a woman with long dark hair. _

_A man pressing the elevator button up, and then 3. _

_A navy-haired woman, staring at a picture. _

_A pink-haired woman dressed in scrubs, large-ish forehead crinkled._

* * *

Sakura didn't get into her usual subway car that evening. Usually she chose the 3rd from the last one, to be consistent, but this time it was too full and she had to choose the last one instead. She didn't expect to see her subway-friends, so she parked herself in a seat and took out her cell phone.

Highly bored and with nothing to do to pass three quarters of an hour, Sakura chose to overabuse the camera option on her phone, taking pictures of the random graffiti that had been scrawled on the walls over the years.

There were numerous hearts, initials, profanities, poems, and of course, was here. Some of them had become worn, some were carved and some were written with what looked like Sharpie and even just normal ballpoint pen.

There was this one intricate drawing. It looked like it had been done in paint rather than the more normal mediums of graffiti. It was a heart made out of flames, with highly delicate-looking names in the center. It looked like someone skilled with art had done it; the names were intertwined nicely and each style of writing seemed to give off a certain sort of characteristic.

On top was the name "Mikato", looking pretty and girly with curlicue script and flowers woven into the vowels. The "x" between the two names was bold, strong, assertive. It was similar to the name below, "Fugaku", which was written highly slanted but also strong, with the tips of the letters flaring out. Below the names, there were numbers, "5/4/71".

Even though other areas of the subway car were completely covered with graffiti drawn by idle hands, the heart seemed to have been given a wide berth of about a 2 feet radius, as if no other graffiti could possibly stand up to the beauty of this ancient one.

Sakura zoomed in on the heart and took a photo of it, then set it as her background instead of the boring Grey's Anatomy picture she had before.

Then she remembered the slip of paper that Uchiha Sasuke had given her, and methodically typed that into her contact list, right above the entry "Uzumaki Naruto". (Naruto had conveniently given her his phone number along with Hinata's, reading them both off of his shockingly bright orange phone that had been so over-blinged that it was blinding.)

Then she absentmindedly shredded the slip of paper into ever smaller pieces, watching them fall to the ground as infinitesimally tiny scraps as the 'ground' moved below her, hurtling her into the darkness.

A couple miles away, Uchiha Sasuke watched as his life came together, tiny scrap after tiny scrap, many black, some tinged other colors; orange, green, blue, pink.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hey everybody! Hopefully you are enjoying the story so far. I have a request to make of you, or rather a demand. Review, please! I probably won't update until I get at least 7 more reviews.

There's this weird phenomenon that more people have this story on their alert list than are reviewing it. This makes Afterword highly annoyed.

Right now I'm updating really fast because I'm getting these epiphanies of ideas, but I don't know about later.

What do you guys think about the idea of having Saturday and Sunday be full days instead of just two 45-minute subway rides?

I'm sorry that the second 45-minute subway ride today was so short, but I felt that it was a good place to end.

Anyways, I hope you oblige my request.


	4. Thursday

---Thursday

_"Look underneath my shell."_

Working at the hospital meant a 100 commitment, which was why Haruno Sakura was dragging herself there at six o'clock in the morning.

About half an hour ago, she had received an urgent phone call from Tsunade-shishou, telling her to be at the hospital as soon as possible.

The pink-haired girl's light brows drew together as she pondered what the emergency could possibly be about, fiddling with her brand new subway season pass. (It was red and white, with a barcode on the side and a serial number on the back).

It was a ridiculous time of the day; the subway had just opened and was sparsely populated. Most people, especially lazy old businessmen, took the 7:30 subway. There was pretty much no such thing as being tardy when you were a CEO, after all.

Sakura sat with her head on her knees, her deep red purse clutched in her hands and her medical clipboard on the seat next to her, loaded with papers about her patients. She faintly registered the antics of a youngish couple a few seats away from her, the man grunting in a good-natured way and the woman berating him over something or another. A few seats in the opposite direction, there was an old man who seemed to be nodding off to sleep, clutching a cane.

She fiddled in her purse a little bit and found a scrap of paper and a blue ink pen, and started doodling, just curlicues and hearts. She still absentmindedly listened to the conversation of the pair, not really processing the information until a phrase caught her attention.

"Aah, the stock is rising."

"And it's all because of me, Doujutsu's senior PR expert!"

"Umhm." The tone was sarcastic.

Sakura chewed on the information for a while, taking her head off of her knees and covertly examining the pair. The girl wearing a beanie, long-sleeved shirt, and baggy pants must be Tenten. She wore her chocolate-colored hair in wispy pieces around her face, cut to shoulder-length and flipped a little bit, and when her head moved, you could see a small cartilage piercing.

The boy was more difficult to see, as he was sitting on the other side of Tenten. Sakura was able to see glimpses of dark brown hair that seemed to be tied in a tight ponytail, front pieces that were too short left out, and blue eyes that were hidden behind black frames.

She opened her cellphone, connected to the internet, and wikipedia'd Hyuuga Neji, to come up with a picture that had startling resemblance. The face shape, the nose, and the hair color were all the same.

Was this Hyuuga Neji in disguise?

But why wouldn't he be driving one of his 50 billion cars?

Maybe she was overanalyzing and this was just Tenten's brother. Or something. They did have similar colored hair.

She looked over at the pair again, curious about the man that could be Naruto's boss and Sasuke's colleague.

He chose that second to look at her. They locked eyes, and she looked away, terrified.

She watched through the corner of her eye as the man got up, spoke a few words to the woman, and eventually dragged her out of her seat by the wrist.

They quickly crossed the distance of about 10 feet and took seats across from her.

The woman spoke first.

"You're Haruno Sakura."

Sakura tried to flood her head with determined thoughts, and visualized the three of them laughing together good-naturedly.

"You're Tenten. And you're –" she mouthed the words to his name,

He smirked. "There's no need to be secretive."

"Then why the disguise? And why is there no need?"

"There are five people in this subway car. Me, you, Tenten, and 2 people that work for me." He nodded toward the old man and a young-looking woman with black hair.

Tenten spoke up, "Sakura-san, the disguises are for when we get out of the subway. Nice to meet you, by the way."

"I see. Nice to meet you as well. Naruto and Sasuke-san have told me much about you."

Tenten looked fake-shocked. "How could they, those gossipers, telling my deepest secrets?"

"Stop the theatrics, Tenten. You are not a drama queen."

"No. You are." Tenten mimicked the CEO, "Ooohhh My name is Hyuuga Neji and you will bow down to my CEO powers!"

Sakura watched their banter, seeing confirmation of Hinata's certainty that Hyuuga Neji would not cheat on Tenten. His blue eyes followed her every move, and sometimes he smiled a bit.

Eventually their attention turned back to her, and Sakura braced herself for a sure to be interesting conversation.

"So, Sakura-san, what brings you out at this time? Naruto told me that you take the 7:13 subway?"

"Ah, yes. Did he tell you that I work at the hospital?" Sakura waited for confirmation from the brunette. "Well, my mentor boss-person, Tsunade-sama, called me this morning at about 5:30 telling me there was an emergency at the hospital and to get there ASAP."

"I see. Wait—You work under Tsunade?"

"Yes, the legendary doctor."

"No way! Did you know that she also used be a karate master?"

"Aah, yes. I may have heard something like that. I heard that she was incredible at it when she was in high school and college."

"Yeah, but then medicine took up too much of her time and she had to quit. She's like my idol."

"Do you do karate?"

"Yes, but I incorporate weapons into my style of fighting. Neji is the one that really does close-range stuff."

The man spoke, saying, "Yes, in fact, we were headed to the dojo this morning."

"Why do you use the subway? Couldn't you just get driven to the dojo?"

Tenten laughed. "I don't let him drive his cars very much, only to events. It's really bad for the environment. Especially those super-expensive Hummers and stuff that he has." She glared at the Hyuuga.

"Anyways, yeah, we were going to the dojo. That's why we have these." Hyuuga Neji quickly changed the subject, obviously uncomfortable around the topic. He pointed toward twin duffel bags under their seats. One was a navy while the other was black.

"Yep, they have our gear and weapons and stuff in them," Tenten piped in.

"Aren't weapons illegal?" asked Sakura bluntly.

"Neji is the CEO of a major company. Really, it's not a problem. Plus I'm not going to go and kill him."

Sakura and Tenten chuckled, while the Hyuuga merely quirked his eyebrow.

He decided to change the topic to something more serious (and less life threatening for him.)

"So, Haruno-san, you met Uchiha on here."

"Yes, that is true, Hyuuga-san."

"Did he seem…suspicious to you in any way, shape or form?"

"Not especially. He doesn't talk much though, so it's hard to gauge. Why do you ask?"

"He is unreadable. I need some information on him, but I have no idea where I am going to get it. He is very…mysterious and I need to know that I can trust him with the company's fate."

"It seems to me that you already have."

As she continued the conversation, Sakura thought carefully about this new piece of information. Even though just yesterday Sasuke had been telling her about how Shikamaru was a mystery man, it seemed that he too guarded his secrets zealously.

The subway car was now quiet, Tenten and Neji fiddling with each other's fingers. Sakura shook away the thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke from her head, and remembered something.

"Tenten-san, did Sasuke-san tell you about our meeting on Saturday?"

"Oh! Yes. Thank you so much for the generous offer." The girl radiated goodwill, but the Hyuuga merely looked puzzled.

"What meeting?"

"Oh, I have a double date on Saturday with Sasuke and Sakura," she teased.

"Be serious," her boyfriend(ish) admonished. "Sakura, what is this about a double date?" The man tried to look nonchalant, but his anxiety over this possibility showed through.

Sakura blushed. "Oh, haha, there is no date. It's just a couple of friends getting together at a café."

"_Female_ friends, right?"

'Umhm."

"What, Neji, afraid that I'm C-H-E-A-T-I-N-G?"

"No," he said gruffly. "Who else would date you?"

Tenten punched him back playfully. "As if, you bastard."

Sakura said goodbye to the couple, gathered her things, and then got off at her stop. She stopped by a Starbucks on her way to the hospital, as she hadn't had to time before the subway left. Then she entered through the wide, glass double doors to find mass chaos.

* * *

_Snapshots_

_A man surfing the internet, expertly twiddling the roller-ball. _

_A woman looking desperate, concern etched all over her face. _

_Two brunette heads, flipping gracefully in the air and covered with grime._

_

* * *

_The day had been exhausting, and not just because of her early morning wakeup-call. Nope, the hospital had been flooded with the survivors of a horrific accident on the bridge that connected Konoha and Suna. 

One drunk driver (who got drunk that early in the morning?) had started driving the wrong way, and the incident had ended in a thirteen-car crash that had affected people from all walks of life, from McDonald's workers to a foreign dignitary.

Let's just say that it was not pretty. Out of the 15 cars and 45 people involved in the crash, 18 had died immediately.

Once the ambulances managed to get to the scene, they had tried to rush the victims to the hospital, but 7 others died on the way there, mostly out of blood loss.

20 people had been packed into the emergency room, and the lucky ones, who had suffered only minor injuries like broken legs and gashes, were quickly dispatched.

That left 13 people who were all seriously injured.

Although Konoha Hospital was well-equipped and one of the best hospitals in the area, that did not mean that they were able to effectively deal with 13 critically injured humans.

The other hospital in town quickly rushed over surgeons and nurses, but that was barely enough to tide the hospital over.

By the end of the day, though, 9 of the 13 people were stable. The other four had died.

And the sad thing was? The drunk driver got out with merely 5 stitches on his forehead.

Haruno Sakura was tired, angry, and about to collapse on the subway. She had barely had any fluids all day, had personally rescued about three people from near-death positions, and was so not in the mood for…

"What's with you?"

She practically banged her head on the side of the door when she saw who it was.

"Uchiha. This is not the time for banter."

"Hn. What happened to the sweet girl who called me Sasuke-san? All a façade, huh?"

"Listen. While you were sitting in your cushy little job playing strip poker or whatever with Shikamaru or one of those bimbo secretaries, I was digging my hands into people's bodies trying to save their lives, alright? I've seen more death today than I ever did my entire stay at med school. The only reason I'm even on this subway right now is that I was freaking about to pass out on the ER, okay? I am running on adrenaline and caffeine, none of that pinot noir crap you drink. So just give it up and shut up for about 20 min---"

She fell asleep, her head leaning against the pole and her sweat-covered forehead still scrunched up from the lecture that she had been in the middle of delivering.

Sasuke, sitting next to her, noticed that her hands were red and raw, as if they had been over-scrubbed with something stronger than soap. Her body was also shivering, since the hospital scrubs that she hadn't bothered to change out of were thin and provided no warmth whatsoever.

She looked exhausted. She was exhausted mentally; she'd obviously gone through hell and back.

Sasuke thought about what she had told him about himself. Strip poker and bimbo secretaries? Hardly, he scoffed. Those criticisms were easily done away with because firstly, Uchiha Sasuke did not have secretaries, and secondly, he would never play strip poker.

But was his job too 'cushy'? Had he lost sight of his ultimate goal? Was he…dare he say, straying from his path?

No, he thought. What did this little pink-haired freak know? Since when had he listened to anyone but himself? Why should he start now?

This was stupid. Why was he even considering listening to her? A girl, no less. A stupid girl. She did go to med school. Great. Now even his own freaking mind was debating with him.

The last time he had obeyed a woman:

_Sasuke! Hurry up and run! Go! Don't look back and get the police! _

He was gone.

And as he passed out, he found that there was suddenly something there.

"…."

"Sasuke-san."

Sakura had woken to find a certain Uchiha's head on her shoulder, his face screwed up tightly, like he had some sort of nightmare. Using her free hand, she tapped the top of his head.

"Uchiha. Get up."

"Uchiha. Get up!!"

She was surprised when he replied, so deep had his sleep seemed.

"…kaa-san?"

Uchiha Sasuke woke in the most humiliating situation that he had been in since high school. For a long time.

As he looked away from Sakura, smoothed the back of his hair, and retracted his grip around her arm, he berated himself for getting into that kind of predicament.

Now she had something to blackmail him with.

"…."

"Sorry." He apologized.

"For what?"

"I must be heavy."

She laughed. "Maybe a little. Sorry I was such a bitch."

"No need."

There was an awkward silence as Sasuke adjusted his posture, his knees now spread with his elbows resting on them.

"I met your boss today, Sasuke."

"I don't have a boss."

"Oh, right. Nevermind. I met your business partner, Hyuuga Neji?"

"Why?" He spoke sharply.

"We met on the subway this morning."

What? I didn't see you two, he thought.

"Hn?"

"It was the 6 o'clock subway."

"Aah."

"Because of the bridge emergency, you know."

"Hn. What did he want?"

"It was just a coincidence. Your PR person, Tenten was with him." Sakura sounded a bit defensive, which was quickly picked up on by the navy-haired man.

"Had a nice chat, did you?" He smirked slowly, drawling the words.

"As a matter of fact, we did. Tenten and him were on their way to some weapons place."

"Yes, they go to the dojo every morning."

"Right."

"In fact, I have accompanied them before."

"No qualms in being a third wheel, huh?"

"Never had any and never will."

"Pompous bastard."

"So…are you interested?"

"In what?"

"Fighting, weapons, that sort."

"To some extent. At least I can bandage myself up if I get hurt, right?"

"Aah."

"You sound condescending. Stop sounding condescending. I pack quite a punch, you know, and I don't lift any girly 8-pound weights, Uchiha Sasuke."

Now Uchiha Sasuke was amused. Definitely amused by the antics of this anomaly.

"Oh, you do, do you?"

"Just ask Naruto. Remember that pretty little rainbow-bruise he came in with the first day of his job? Guess who gave it to him?"

"Interesting."

"That's right, be intrigued."

"Hm. How about we go for a spar Saturday after our meeting?"

"You're on. And paying for any medical bills."

"Deal."

They shook hands, and Sakura started giggling.

"What?" He was annoyed.

"You have this highly determined look on your face. It just screams I will not lose to you!"

"Don't mock me."

"Don't mock me."

"Don't copy me, teme, dattebayo!" said Sasuke, mocking Naruto.

Sakura doubled over, laughing and gaining a few odd looks from their fellow subway-goers.

"Stop, you're making me make a fool out of myself."

"Are you implying that you weren't a fool in the first place?"

"Hmph."

"You're quite easy to get a rise out of, you know."

"Well, some of us don't have the emotional range of a teaspoon."

"Harry Potter fan?"

"Aren't we all?"

"I guess."

"You're a Snape type."

"I use shampoo and conditioner, thank you very much. And my patronus would be much more manly than a deer."

"Keep on telling yourself that, Sasuke."

"What happened to the –san?"

"You don't deserve it. Anyways, I dropped it for Naruto like, within the hour, so I think it's time you start earning your –sans."

"Fine. I guess you were never Sakura-san so I can't even retaliate."

"Haha. In your face, Uchiha."

"Shut up. And, it's your stop."

"Right, thanks."

"No problem."

As the subway slowed, the grins on their faces slowly faded.

"Sasuke?"

"Aah."

"Why did you come on the subway today?"

Silence.

"I wanted to."

She smiled and stepped off.

"See you tomorrow then."

_

* * *

**Author's Note**:_

_Sorry if Sasuke seems a little bit OOC in the chapter, it is kind of necessary for the plot to work. Sorry for the long delay as well, these last few weeks have been super hectic and stuff!_

_Hope you enjoyed this longish chapter, and I am begging for reviews._

_Afterword_


	5. Friday

_Chapter 5_

--**Friday**

"_Expect the Unexpected. Or really, don't expect anything."_

All Sakura could say was TGI freaking F. The week had been harder a/nd more stressful than usual, and she was definitely ready to hunker down on her sofa and gorge herself on popcorn, watching crap romantic comedies. Maybe she could bring herself to get her console up and running and then play some DDR, burn off some carbs from unhealthy, buttery deliciousness.

Today should be a considerably easier day than yesterday. A lot of the patients from the car crash were still in the hospital, but they were stable now so there should be no problems. Maybe she would even have time to go talk to Ino at the reception desk, no doubt chatting up some remotely handsome guy…

Yep, she was sure glad it was Friday. Friday meant freedom. See, it even alliterated. Freedom for two entire days of no blood, no scrubs and no subway! (hopefully. Sometimes situations came up.) Even though she had to admit that her subway rides had been getting better, they were still a total pain and hassle. She could talk to all of these cool subway people over IM. Or something except for the greasy, dirty, pervert-filled, gross, ridiculously blue-plastic SUBWAY!

Taking off her tote bag, she pulled out a mirror and a brush, doing her hair in a French braid that would prevent any weird situations with patients. ("Excuse me, your hair is in my face" etc.) Then she applied a little bit of waterproof mascara (the patients really knew how to load on the sob stories) and stuffed the mirror back into her all-purpose bag. This morning she had opted to take a shower, brush her teeth and bolt straight out of the door. When choosing between good hair and Starbucks, Starbucks always, always prevailed.

While getting her double latte, she had caught a glimpse of Hinata, and told Kiba, her daily coffee-fixer, to remind the blue-haired girl about their meeting tomorrow. The brunette had seemed slightly puzzled, but gave her her coffee with a smile, like usual. She should date that boy, he definitely knew how to make coffee. And be optimistic. Though she had to admit, it always seemed like the tattoo-ed employee had a thing for Hinata. But then you never knew.

The subway doors were still open, she had arrived a little bit early. The people were filing in and taking up the seats, some of them opening papers and others nodding off to sleep, their hair 'cleaning' the dirty, smudged windows. Gross.

Her phone rang, still on volume 3 from her daily wake up call.

"I've got a closet filled up to the brim with the ghosts of my past and the skeletons—"

"Hello?"

"Sakura-chan, where are you? You're not in car number 3!" a whiny voice that somehow conveyed a sense of orange told her. Sakura held the phone 3 inches away from her ear.

"Yeah I am…You're probably the one in the wrong car."

"Nuh-uh! The great Naruto-sama doesn't fail on things like this!"

"The great-Naruto sama probably confused 3 for 30."

"No way! Oh, wait."

A brief silence.

"Hehehehe," the voice said, sounding sheepish. Sakura imagined the blonde grinning widely and rubbing the back of his head.

"Told you so, idiot. And seriously, is there even a car number 30?"

"Yeah, there totally is!"

"Well, it obviously correlates to your IQ then."

"HEY! You're so mean, Sakura-chan!"

"Not my fault that you're stupid, Naruto." Sakura giggled. "Hurry up and get over here, I'm bored hearing people snoring."

"Okay okay. So I should go…this way." Naruto muttered to himself as he puzzled over the direction that he should go.

"So Doujutsu going well then? You're almost done with your first week, congrats."

"Yeah..but really, I'm surprised. Hyuuga is pretty notorious for being a jerk about efficiency, but he's not making any threats to me or Tenten…"

"Oh yeah well. Tenten is his girlfriend. Not like he's gonna fire her. She probably kick his ass. And dump him."

"But he shouldn't have any qualms about throwing me out. In fact, he has reasons to back it up…I mean, he hates my guts since I'm dating Hinata-chan, I haven't done any work, our office has like scars and scratches everywhere, and Sasuke-teme constantly complains about me."

"Maybe Neji isn't such a bad guy." Sakura mused, thinking back to her prior conversation with him on the subway. "Maybe he feels sorry for Hinata-san and therefore won't fire you."

"He never felt sorry for Hina-chan before!"

"But then before she wasn't disowned and he wasn't a multimillionaire."

"Good point, Sakura-chan. I can see why you're a doctor." Sakura looked up and saw Naruto with a comical expression on his face, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Your thinking process involves interesting facial expressions, Uzumaki."

Naruto flipped off his phone. "Ehhh. Well, you snore when you sleep."

Sakura thought back quickly. She's never fallen asleep on the subway…"You've never even seen me sleep!"

"I know these things."

"Uh-huh. Riiight" she drawled, lazily reaching up and flicking the blonde on the nose.

"So, Sakura-chan, any plans for this weekend?"

"I'm totally booked Saturday. Are you and Hinata doing anything?"

"Yeah, movies tonight. But apparently she's doing something tomorrow…"

"She didn't tell you what?"

"No, do you know?"

"Well, we're going to a singles mixer!" exclaimed Sakura, a mischievous look crossing her face for a split second before she calmly composed her features, smiling brightly up at the blonde.

"WHAAT?"

"Well, me, Tenten, Ino, and Hinata decided that our love lives are….lack luster right now. And there's a nice singles mixer tomorrow! There's definitely gonna be a lot of hot guys. Like, Grey's Anatomy hot." Sakura giggled inwardly, but managed to suppress it and sound earnest.

Naruto's jaw fell further and further. "Wh-What's wrong with MEEEE?"

"Well, I don't know. You're lazy, you confuse 3 for 30, and you wear orange on a regular basis."

"Hinata told me she liked it when I wear orange."

"Well she was lying. Orange and blue clash, dobe."

"NOOO--Sakura-chan has become just like Sasuke-teme!"

"How dare you call me a man!" she bantered back.

A grey-haired man looked up. "Kids, could you be quiet?" Sakura flamed red and looked at the ground, embarrassed for being referred to as a kid AND being told off.

"Who are you to tell us what we should do??" Naruto's voice somehow, somehow managed to cut through the din of the subway. He now definitely had the attention of all the people in car 3.

A group of kids (actual kids. 7th, 8th graders?) started chanting "Fight, fight, fight, fight" and Sakura resisted the urge to go over there and bonk all of them on their heads. Their little, not-yet-fully grown skulls probably had a soft spot somewhere...Instead she focused her attention on the speaker.

"Ehhhh? It's you Kakashi-senpai?" Sakura was incredulous. Did Naruto not remember this guy?

"Sakura-chan, you know him? Tell him to stop bothering us!"

"Umm..Naruto, I think we're the ones bothering…the entire subway…" she sweated. "And also…you know him too. We met him here on um. Tuesday? Wednesday? He's the pervert, remember?"

The passengers' eyes widened and the 8th grade girls covered their skirts with schoolbags. Naruto finally got it. "Ohhhhh! I remember now! Hi scarecrow-san!"

"Haruno-chan." Kakashi said in a sing-song voice, shooting a dagger-glance at Naruto. "Way to mess up my data-collecting."

"You can go do data collecting somewhere else. Like, another city?"

The silver-haired man smiled. "I'm still here from promotional purposes! I'm really popular you know. Or should I say, Jiraiya-sama is very popular."

"Ew ew ew. With who, old pedos like yourself? Or maybe Hugh Hefner? Oh wait. He is an old pedo."

"You'd be surprised. I think Doujutsu is actually a major sponsor…They give us money, we give them dumb secretaries when we're done collecting data from them. So Naruto-kun, if you ever are interested, here's my card."

Sakura was in shock. "Ah--Um--UCHIHA SASUKE YOU ARE SO DEAD! LIARRRR!" her hands clenched in fists. Naruto stepped away. Sakura wondered why she even cared what the Uchiha was up to with his secretaries. Maybe she just didn't like being blatantly, totally lied to…maybe…

The subway car shook. The whispers came up, poorly concealed to Sakura's trained ear. "Eh? You think she's Uchiha-san's girlfriend? Really? What is he thinking?" The 8th-grade girls looked her up and down, and apparently found her lacking. Their eyes lingered on her unglamorous hairstyle and ordinary clothes.

"Haruno-chan, you brought that upon yourself. Prepare to be mobbed." Sakura frowned as Kakashi waved a goodbye, completely not believing his prediction. Naruto struck a pose, and Sakura faintly saw a superhero cape swaying the non-existent wind. She shook her head and blinked her eyes. "Don't worry, I will protect Sakura-chan!"

As the screaming girls converged on her (how was the car not tipping over? Ugh, damnit, why was Pedo-san right?), Kakashi shuddered as he heard, "KAKASHI, YOU BASTARD, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

He smirked. "All the better to collect data with."

After about 5 minutes, Sakura managed to extricate herself from the dogpile and stood up on one of the seats.

"Listen everyone. Me and Uchiha Sasuke are nothing! Nada! The one who knows him is -- Kakashi! Yep, that freak over there! They're…first cousins! Go ask him!" The pink-haired girl smirked. For some reason, she really enjoyed redrawing family trees to bring doom onto the silver-haired publicist.

Naruto sighed. "Sakura-chan, you're scary, you know that? And a revenge-monster. Like Sasuke-teme." At this, his eyes widened, and Sakura faintly heard him curse under his breath.

"What?" her demeanor calmed down. "What does he want revenge for?" Her mind was struggling to make the connections.

Naruto looked flustered "ahh….um…Yesterday I took away his tomato and he docked half my pay!" he said rapidly. Then he looked away. "Look Sakura-chan it's my stop see you tomorrow! Or tonight! Or whatever! Have fun talking to Kaka-sen! Ja!"

Sakura looked up, puzzled at Naruto's actions and slowly linking his flusteredness with Sasuke and revenge and the Uchiha's request to see her Saturday. She looked up again. The subway had It wasn't Madara stop yet…What were Naruto-- and Sasuke --hiding?

By now Kakashi had fended off the schoolgirls/boys, who had gotten off at the same stop as Naruto (the middle school was around there somewhere) and magically reappeared near her.

"Evil."

"You were evil first, so ha!" the roseate girl stuck her tongue out childishly. Kakashi's eyebrows raised.

"Ahh. So you and Sasuke-kun aren't going out…or maybe you were just bluffing to get revenge?"

"No, we're not. I've only known him for a week! Less than, even. But you seem to know him pretty well."

"Not really, he doesn't do any business with Jiraiya-sama. I've only really heard about him."

"So it's Hyuuga then. Tenten will be pissed."

"Actually neither of those two like using secretaries, I think."

"Makes sense, I guess." Sakura pouted. If it wasn't those two head honchos, then it could be…no way.

"It's not Nara Shikamaru, is it?"

Kakashi's eyes widened and then crinkled into an n shape. "I'm not at liberty to disclose our clients."

"You had no qualms when I asked you about Sasuke-san or Hyuuga."

"Logic is going to get you no where, Sa-ku-ra-chan. I'm in a business where there's smoke and mirrors."

Sakura pouted, realizing that the silver-haired man was going to give up nothing. "Jerk."

"Indeed."

"How did your parents stand you?" the young woman teased.

There was a silence. "My father didn't have to, at least." She had hit a nerve and now she was regretting. And then she was saved by the bell. Or robotic voice. Or whatever.

She was just glad that that particular awkwardness was over.

* * *

_Snapshots_

_A silver haired man on the phone. _

_A blonde, a rosette, and a stranger talking animatedly. _

_A navy-haired young man sitting behind the desk, his finger tangled around a cord. _

_A rosette again, waiting in a line._

* * *

Sakura had picked up a novel on her way to the subway stop. Even though she had very little time to read anymore, what with her almost-position as a resident (YES!) and the TV shows she followed and friends' problems and singles mixers and whatnot. (Well, maybe not the singles mixers. She wasn't desperate enough to go mingle with 40 year olds.)

But she had spotted this novel in the discount bin, beaten up and dog-eared; some pages were even torn. She would normally have looked over it, caring only for the newspaper rack on the right side of the door. (Keeping up with global news was a must.) But that book evoked vague ideas of sophomore year of high school and football and something or another that made her reach out, grab it, walk into the store, and pay for it, waiting in a long line that made her at risk for missing the subway.

She hadn't actually looked at this novel yet, really really looked at it and studied it and read the back cover. She had been in too much of a hurry, dashing from the book store at a fast walk (not running because only high school freshmen ran with heavy bags. And they looked like turtles because of it).

Now, she sat down, and retrieved the book, and sat down, staring intently at its cover. The paperback front depicted a boy with thick glasses on, with pale skin and an intense gaze. The book was titled "Tangerine", and Sakura vaguely remembered it from high school. She had been an avid reader back then, since her high school didn't offer the most rigorous of courses and she needed some way to occupy her time.

She flipped through the book quickly, to find quirky large-ish font and simple vocabulary. Hardly the right reading material for a girl used to reading medical textbooks and in her spare time, The Art of War. But there was something magnetic about the book. She read quickly, managing to make it through a couple of pages before the first stop.

Vague recollections of the book filtered through, as she read the story of a middle school soccer player, Paul, forever stuck in the shadow of his truly evil older brother Erik, a football star that everyone idolized and no one really knew about. She found herself engrossed in the story, not even noticing when a shadow obscured the fluorescent light.

"Haruno-chan, fancy seeing you here again. It must be fate, don't you think?"

Sakura looked up, her back aching from bending over both all day and while she was reading.

"You again, Kakashi-sempai?"

"You don't seem pleased to see me." The man drawled.

"Eh. The question is, are you pleased to see _me_?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. I'm quite intrigued by you, you know." Kakashi's voice carried a hint of interest, and he fiddled with his black turtleneck. "Not every girl can speak so freely about 2 of the world's most famous men."

Sakura was listening with one ear, quickly tearing through the pages of the novel. "Hm? Who's that?"

"Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke, obviously."

"Umhmm…And why are you so interested?"

"Personal…and financial reasons, you might say."

Absentmindedly, Sakura said, "I'm sure you make enough money embezzling off of Jiraiya-san."

Sounding shocked, Kakashi said, "How could you think of me like that, Haruno-chan? Jiraiya-sama trusts me completely and I have never abused that trust."

"Umhm. Right. So really, why do you concern yourself so much with Sasuke-san and Hyuuga-san?"

"Like I said, I need money. And someone pays for information."

"Someone like who."

"I'll tell you if you tell me everything you know about Uchiha Sasuke, his past, and everything else."

"Seems like I'm getting the short end of the deal, for some reason." Sakura had set the book down to her right, and was now giving the man her full attention, staring up at him through strands of pink hair.

"You're not."

"Oh really?" her voice was laced with sarcasm. "You get information about Sasuke-san for…the Mafia or whatever…and I get a name?"

"You get the name and the opportunity to wikipedia it. And…a Starbucks gift card?"

She was defeated. "50 bucks. And how do you know that I like Starbucks?"

"Every girl does. You're pre-dict-a-ble, Haruno-chan."

Somehow she didn't believe him. Short girls (of which she was one, unfortunately), usually didn't like Starbucks because coffee stunts growth. He knew something that he definitely was not letting on. And she was only going to find out what by telling him everything she knew about Uchiha Sasuke.

It was betrayal. But at least it was betrayal for a cause.

"Ask away, Kakashi-sempai."

"Okay, glad to know that you're willing to cooperate. First of all, then. When was the first time you met Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Sometime this week. Err. Monday. Naruto introduced me to him."

"And you are absolutely certain that you had never seen him before?"

"Yeah, completely."

"Do you know anything about his past?"

"Not really, just hints that Naruto slipped out. Something about revenge or something."

"Have you ever heard of Uchiha Itachi?"

"No. Who is he? Sasuke-san's father?" She was completely bewildered by now.

Kakashi chuckled. "No. But he might have something to do with something to do with Sasuke-san's father. And mother. And uncle."

"Whaaat? What are you talking about?"

"I've said more than I should have. Continuing. Uchiha asked you to meet him tomorrow, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why he would do this? Is it a date, or something more…secretive?"

Sakura laughed loudly. "Kakashi, have you looked at him? The best words for a date that he could probably come up with would be 'Me. You. Dinner. Tonight. 7:30.' Or worse." She giggled and pushed back her stray hairs. "Nah, it has something to do with my work at the hospital."

Okay. Now she was getting into murky waters. Even though Sasuke had not told her explicitly to not mention the meeting, his request definitely had the 'secret' edge.

But the inner sinner (oh look rhyming) in her really couldn't help herself.

But she promised that when she found out who this…interrogator in the shadows, hiring Kakashi, was..she would tell Sasuke immediately.

He deserved to know who was semi-stalking him. And she managed to convince herself that she was helping him. And so she continued.

"What is your position at the hospital?"

"I'm an intern, but hopefully I will become a resident soon."

"Considering that Uchiha has never really had an interest in the medical field, why do you think that he is interested?"

"It has something to do with his mother."

"Do you know anything about her?"

"No."

"Her name was Mikoto."

At this, Sakura's eyes widened. She flipped open her phone, and looked at the background. "Was his father's name Fugaku?"

"Yes…how did you know? Did Sasuke-kun tell you?"

"No, I found this." Sakura handed over her phone. "It's in one of the cars here, in fact."

"This is interesting then. I hope you don't mind if I send this picture to myself."

"Yeah, it's fine. I have unlimited."

"Okay then. I think that's all. My employer will be very happy to know this."

"You're creepy, you know. And so is your employer." She saw Kakashi gathering his things. "And don't you dare leave without keeping up your end of the bargain. Starbuck's giftcard. And the name."

Kakashi handed Sakura her phone back, and flipped his phone closed. Sakura saw a glimpse of text. "Video: Sakura". He had been videotaping her words. A true spy.

"Okay, Haruno-chan, are you ready for this?" The man stood up.

"Yes, yes, what's the name?" Sakura had her phone out and ready, prepared to whip out a text to the Uchiha.

"Uchiha Sasuke." And then he stepped out of the subway.

* * *

A/N: Cliffhanger. It's been a while, so here's a long chapter for you. The longest one to date, in fact. Sorry I've been taking so long, but my life is pretty hectic and stressful, what with AP Testing coming up and all. Boo that.

Check out my new-ish story, Blink and You'll Miss It!


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